The prior art already discloses a passport comprising a near-field communication device. For example, the communication device is in the form of an insert, better known by the English term “inlay”.
Generally, a passport comprises a booklet formed by a plurality of sheets assembled together along a binding line, of which at least one sheet bears personal data of the carrier, that is, relative to his identity, known as personalisation data, such as his photograph, his name, his private address and security data such as watermarks, security threads or even particular artwork, etc.
An “inlay” or transponder insert comprises generally a substrate made of plastic material in the thickness of which is incorporated a transponder assembly formed by an antenna and a microcircuit attached to the antenna.
This substrate is generally designed to be incorporated between two layers of the document. In the case of the passport, “the inlay” is for example interbedded between the cover and the endpaper, the whole then being put together for example by cold adhesion or hot laminating to form a single page of the passport.
The antenna is formed for example by a winding of electrically conductive coils formed by the printing of conductive ink on one face of the insert and the antenna is connected electrically to the microcircuit by means of conductive pellets.
The disadvantage to this solution however is that it provides a document with a very thick cover, “the inlay” generally having a relatively substantial thickness for incorporating the module entirely within its body.
Also, the connection of the antenna and the microcircuit by means of conductive pellets is particularly sensitive to flexion and twisting.
Now, it is necessary, especially for official documents such as passports, that the service life of such documents be sufficiently long to cover the period of validity of the title defined by the passport.
It is also known, especially from document WO 02/089052, to incorporate the communication device in the cover of the passport in the form of a single component formed by a microcircuit integrating the antenna.
In this document, the cover is formed by at least two layers assembled together in the thickness of which the component is integrated.
However, such a component is particularly heavy. Also, a forger can easily delaminate the layers and extract the component with the aim of later fraudulent use.